Thanks you guys!! this is very helpful, I just want to know whether or not I could handle a high energy dog or not so this really helped as far as what I would need to do to keep a high energy pup from eating my house lol.

My dogs are high energy breeds too, and Hershey being more layed back, can go for hours if he wanted to, but, he stops when he knows its time to stop, he gets his exercise with a lasor light! lol Whisper, she can go hours, as a puppy! And oh boy, she tires me out, before I tire her out! It takes her hours to tire her out!! Labs are high energy, but are happy to do whatever you exercise them. This is why I love this breed so much. Keeps you moving!

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Thank you Christine!

A Dog is like an eternal Peter Pan,
a child who never
grows old and who therefore is always available to love and be loved
~Aaron Katcher~

"There aren't any bad dogs, there are only bad owners..." Off of the Movie Underdog

I use a combo of mental and physical stimulation for Gunnar. I find that making him think wears him out just as good as running does. We do daily OB training in combination with fetch and other outdoor games. The fetch is the reward for the OB stuff. We do agility and OB training in a class setting once a week.

Daisy and Bruzer are not a problem. Daisy is full of puppy energy but 20-30 minutes of playing with Gunnar or chasing a ball and she's done.

Right now I have 2 aussies and 2 GSD's..The aussies being 7 & 6 yrs old, the GSD's being 12 & 10 yrs old. I've had them all since puppies.

My female gsd is /was an energizer bunny, she is a dog who as a puppy, NEVER ever took a "nap" like most puppies do *vbg*..She honestly did not start slowing down until she hit about 10. She still, crippled with arthritis, never 'walks', she 'flits'....My male gsd is more laid back, however, he'll work all day if you ask him but lounge on the couch all day if that is required..

My aussies on the other hand,,my male out of working lines, is much like my male gsd,,he is much more intense & serious, and will chase a tennis ball all day long or until he dropped dead I'm sure...but he isn't 'demanding' or has to have constant exercise. My female however, never stops, she is very demanding and has to have hard workouts atleast 2-3 times daily. Walks have never cut it for any of my dogs, they need to run, chase balls, catch frisbees, hike, something that engages them. Training also is an outlet for them, classes in agility/obed , fun herding .

If we have say, a really rainy day, my female aussie is a bear to live with. Lucky for her (not really for me!) she doesn't mind getting wet and is willing to take on bad weather to get in her daily exercise.

There are loads of the higher energy dogs that can be found that are not high energy or as demanding, I happen to like demanding little demons .

This is a great thread. I've also been curious as to what exactly a high energy breed needs. They don't sound anywhere near as intimidating to me now. Especially since (although physical activity is obviously needed) mental stimulation seems to be the key. Thanks for starting this thread Maxy!

Cass.

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I've been frosted!Say NO to animals in pet shops!Rescue a friend instead.
"Raise them to be gentle and they will be gentle. Raise them to be vicious, and they will be vicious.
Problems lie not in the breed, but in the people." - Dr. Carl Semenic

i think it varies, buster is probably kelpie/cattledog with maybe some foxy or dingo. he saves his energy unless you want him to use it, like if your going for a walk then he's over excited ot the max, but if you just wanna sit around for a few days he's fine with that as well.

harry is border/cattledog from working lines MASSIVE amounts of energy and very nippy, if he doesn't get a walk for a couple of days he gets SO annoying. just always in your face jumping on you, trying to start games with me, my sister, buster, sophie, mac, mum etc and he won't give it a rest till you find soemthign for him to do. he has a few games he likes theres his "ready" game where you stare into his eyes and say "ready?" over and over again puffing yourself up, he gets all concentrated and stares back and gets all jittery then you go GO! and he takes off running in any direction, either that or he leaps at you and almost knocks you flat. we gave him glad bags with peanut buter on them till he learnt he coud just eat the whoel bag so we had to stop that.
we give him cardboard boxes to chew up if we can be bothered picking up the rubbish.
we try things like a biscuit trail, we make him stay and put a trail of biscuits all over the house then let hm go and clean them all up.

he's what i'd call they huge high energy dog, he needs CONSTANT mental stimulation, which isn't always easy. if he is bored he decides to do things like just barking... constantly or going and finding soemthing nice to chew up or go dig a hole. he's not an easy dog at all
he's mums dog but me and my sister spend more time at home so we have to deal with him more often, plus he's got so much energy but he's not mega athletic so teaching him agility or soemthing doesn't really work.

mac i would also rate as high energy we think she's kelpie/mini foxy she is relaly muscly, the minute you step outside she goes and finds a toy and you can play flat out with her for 30 minutes and she won't have lost any energy. we actually have to remind her to drink. she'll do soemthing just to have something to do.
i've got a system we're i'll get 2 toys, i'll throw one, thn the second she gets back with it i'll throw the next so she's constantly running, i always get sick of it first.

i'd say harry's the hardest to excercise, mac and buster have just as much energy as hime but they can easily contain it.

buster has amazing stamina though, you can keep him joging for ages and it doesn't worry him.

Edit: i just wanted to add.
i was just going to write about how he chases the cat on occasion, and i look over and harry's standing halfway up the stairs and panda's at the top (only about 5 stairs) everytime panda makes a move harry jerks back, panda stands up and takes one step towards him and super scary harry freaks out and half runs half falls down the stairs.